Friday 9, February
Berlinale disinvites AfD politicians from the opening ceremony
On Thursday evening, the Berlin International Film Festival released an official statement on their social media channels that began: “As of today, we have disinvited the AfD members of parliament from the Opening… Individuals who advocate discriminatory and exclusionary views and, in some cases, want to abolish democracy are not welcome at the Berlinale.”
This decision followed much criticism of the prestigious festival for extending invitations to two members of the far-right party: Berlin state chairwoman Kristin Brinker and her deputy, Roland Briller. This was despite the fact that Brinker was known to have privately met with the same controversial figures who presented the “Remigration” plans at the secret conference in Potsdam.
The revelation of that meeting sparked weeks of protest across Germany. At first, the festival stood behind their decision, stating that they simply issued a standard quota of invitations to all democratically-elected representatives in the city. Now, it seems, the intense external pressure – which included an open letter from around 200 filmmakers opposing their decision – has caused the festival to change its mind.
The final paragraph of the statement reads: “For the Berlinale and the team, one thing is certain: We cannot and must not roll out the proverbial red carpet to right-wing extremists.”
